


Where I Belong

by yetanotherfangirl



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Ficlet, Friends to Lovers, Liam POV, Lilo friendship, M/M, Niall's role is off screen sorry, boys oblivious to their feelings, side ziam if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 08:19:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11309433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yetanotherfangirl/pseuds/yetanotherfangirl
Summary: He gives up after trying for five minutes and goes over to Liam. “Why did you have to piss the book off?” Louis says.“Whaddya have to piss Harry off?” Liam counters. Zayn could be getting sweaty right now and here is Liam, stuck in the friggin library. He is going to end this nonsense once and for all.Sort of Harry Potter AU where Liam is Harry, Louis is Ron and Harry is Hermione. Niall is Viktor.Louis and Harry not acknowledging their feelings is making Liam's life difficult.





	Where I Belong

**Author's Note:**

> I love Romione so I just dropped everybody's favourite boyband into that world.

"So, are you done with your essay?" Louis asks, peering over Harry who is hunched up in front of a desk in the common room. Harry's head snaps up, his arms swiftly moving to cover the sheet of parchment in front of him. "Yeah... I'm done," Harry stutters out while strategically rolling the parchment and shoving it in his bag. The common room is quiet; most of the students are still in the Grand Hall finishing up dinner. Liam and Louis came back early, to finish completing their homework, which is to say, emotionally manipulate Harry to go against his ethics and let them copy from his parchment.

"Oh, c'mon Harry! let me have peek. It’s not like I’ll be copying your work. I just need a few ideas to get me going", Louis pleads, his eyes insistent and his mouth curled in a pout. Harry sighs, Liam snorts.There was no way Harry’s eyes wouldn’t melt over Tomlinson's legendary doe -eyed look. "Okay, yeah," he concedes, getting up from his place. "I'll go get it from my room."

"Wait- that wasn't your homework?", Louis asks confused. Harry mutters something that sounds vaguely like Itsjustaletterto before rushing off towards stairs that lead to the dormitories, making a very obvious effort of avoiding Louis's eyes.

"What’s gotten into him?" Louis asks Liam, once Harry's out of earshot. "Dunno, mate," Liam, replies without looking up from his own homework,"He was writing that thing since morning, didn't look like homework to me and He seemed quite evasive about it."

Louis goes silent at that. Liam is alarmed; Louis is boisterous energy bouncing across the room, he’s the guy playing Exploding Snaps in the library at midnight, he’s hexes sent at the Jiminy boys because they were teasing Lottie. Whenever Louis goes silent, it usually means he’s planning something.

Harry comes back now. He unrolls his parchment, it’s a veritable four feet, and places it on the table. He gives them a running commentary on the books he consulted, the experiments he did on his own, the ingredients he had to get flooed, from Yorkshire, London, and Ireland. Neither Liam and Louis pay any attention to them until Harry says something about the special qualities of the grass found in Mullingar. Liam hears the distinct sound of parchment curling under tight fist. A quill rolls over the table and slips down.

“Let’s take a break”, Louis says, his smile sweet, which in Louis-world usually means dangerous. Liam pushes his parchment away and buries his head in a random book he snatches from the nearby table; ignorance is the strategy Liam employs whenever Louis and Harry come closer to doing anything that might be a semblance of ‘acknowledging their feelings’.

"Who were you writing to anyway?", Louis asks.

"Niall," Harry replies, trying to be nonchalant, but the lilt of his tone gives him away.

Liam looks up from the book he's reading, his eyes raised in alarm. This conversation is heading for disaster, he just knows it. He is frantically patting Louis’ thighs, warning him not to get angry, to control himself but Louis pushes his hands away.

"Horan? That quiddtich player?" Louis is asking. Faker, Liam thinks. Louis knows exactly which Niall Harry is talking about. Less than a year ago Louis had a Niall Horan 'commemorative bust' resting on his bedstand along with a miniature replica of his Speedster broom and a stolen goblet that he had nicked from the Great Hall when Niall visited Hogwarts after the Triwizard tournament back when they were in second year.

"Yeah, the same," Harry says , a tell-tale blush creeping up his cheeks. Not that he's not desperately trying to hide it. His lips are twitching to form his cherub smile and his dimples indent deeper. But he quickly schools his expression, shrugging off Louis.

Liam sighs. He doesn't know what he's gonna do with his two best mates. It really is not his place to say anything but sometimes he really wants to smack them in the heads and force them to kiss each other. It is getting embarrasingly painful to watch- the way they sneak glances at each other when they think nobody is watching, the way they get jealous whenever the other is dating someone.

“So, you’ve been in touch with him.” Louis says slowly. The three of them had last met Niall at Gemma’s wedding. Gemma’s a quidditch player, which is how she met Jake, seeker for the Irish team. Niall is one of Jake’s teammates.

“Yeah,” Harry is saying, “He helped me procure wortonweed, it’s only found in Mullingar. He even invited me to visit Ireland over the summer, there are a lot species indigenous to Ireland. Said I could do research project on them, he knows professors in University of Dublin.” Harry looks positively delighted as he says it.

Louis snorts loudly now. “Research, sure. _That’s_ what he’s gonna help you with.”

Liam knows that Harry has picked up on the innuendo, but Harry continues casually, ignoring Louis. “Well, yes. He would. And I think I’ll learn a lot and it will help me a lot after school.” They are in the fourth year, it’s too early to worry about internships now, Liam thinks.

“And I think, he’s too old for you.” Louis says. Harry’s enraged now. “What do you mean, he is eighteen? And let me tell you Louis Tomlinson, I can very well take care of myself.” He’s gathering his things, putting quills and parchment in his bag with great force.

Louis is not relenting. He stands up, shoving Liam’s hands which are repeatedly trying to pull him back to his seat.

Harry makes for the painting of the fat lady, and Louis follows close behind. “Harry, you don’t know jock-types like him. They only want one thing.”

“Oh so that’s what you think now, is it. Who was begging for his autograph at Gemma’s wedding. Huh.” Liam hears the bang of the painting closing, and then the thud of a body slamming against it, as though someone was on the receiving end of a hex. The painting door opens to reveal the grumbling face of the Fat Lady and a shaken Louis Tomlinson entering the room.

Liam feels only slightly sorry for Louis, he brought it on himself.

***

The next few days are a nightmare for Liam. Louis and Harry have stopped talking to each other and have taken to send angry glares whenever they pass each other in the hallway. Liam spends half his time with Harry, and half with Louis but doesn’t broach the subject with either because he still doesn’t want to interfere in their weird relationship dynamics.

Louis is getting antsy because they he doesn’t get to play with Harry’s hair anymore. To be honest, it’s not the first time they’ve fought. Bickering is how they usually show their affection to each other, that’s their friendship has been since the beginning. However, none of their fights have lasted this long.

Liam sits with Harry during the Potions class, and with Louis during History of Magic. The Potions lecture begins with Harry suggesting to Professor Binns that they should create a draught that could cure assholes. Louis raises his hands and says that the class could very well do without a few ‘intellectual elites’ monopolising the classroom. Everybody sniggers, Liam hides his face in his hands.

The ninth consecutive day of the fight, when Liam’s alone with Louis in the library that Liam decides enough is enough is enough. They’ve been pouring over books for hours, looking for material to cite for their Potions essay. They’d had nothing so far and Liam is pissed.

If Harry was here, they’d be able to find the correct the books in a jiffy and then maybe Liam could saunter down to the field to watch Zayn Malik practicing for the quidditch match. But Liam can’t do that now because his two best mates are twats who cannot accept that they like each other. Liam’s life sucks.

“It’s your fault.” Liam smacks Louis with a Herbology book. The book leaps back into the air, slaps Liam with its pages and settles itself on the topmost shelf.

“Treat the books with respect, Liam.” Louis says. That sounds very rich coming from Louis’ mouth and, no, Liam is not up for it. He huffs silently in the corner while Louis woos the book, trying to get it to fly back to him.

He gives up after trying for five minutes and goes over to Liam. “Why did you have to piss the book off?” Louis says.

“Whaddya have to piss Harry off?” Liam counters. Zayn could be getting sweaty right now and here is Liam, stuck in the friggin library. He is going to end this nonsense once and for all.

“I was looking out for him. Niall is bad news.” Louis says. He slips down to the ground, making circular sparks with his wand.

“Oh please, “Liam says. “You’re just jealous that somebody got to Harry before you could make your move.” Louis chokes on nothing. “Wha- What,” Louis tries to find words to avoid this conversation but this time Liam’s not going to budge.

“You’re just jealous that Niall has Harry’s interest going while you are too much of sissy to ask out your friend cum crush.”

“That is not how it is, at all.” Louis splutters, the sparks going haywire over his wand.

“That is exactly how it is.” Liam says and turns to face Louis. “ If you think it’s going to ruin your friendship, don’t. Harry likes you too. Just ask him out.”

“I’m not-“ Louis begins emphatically but gives up on seeing Liam’s no-bullshit expression. “I just, why would Harry like me. He’s so smart, he’s so pretty, he can have anyone in the world. What would he see in me, plain old stupid Louis who pranks people just so that everyone pays attention to him.”

His voice is low, and his head is dropped down. “Louis,” Liam tries to say as gently as he can. He never knew this is how Louis felt. “Harry doesn’t think that, none of us do. Everybody loves you, you make us laugh when we are worried to death over something or the other.”

Louis makes an incomprehensible sound but doesn’t say anything.

“In fact, I think Harry’s half in love with you.” Liam finally says it. His friends weren’t going to realise it on their own, he has realised this now. He would have to give them a push.

Louis’ eyes widen at what Liam has said. “Surely you don’t-“

“He is. I’ve seen how he looks at you. I think he only pushed the Niall thing to make you jealous.”

“But he genuinely looked happy"

“Well, Niall’s hot.” Liam shrugs, that’s the truth. “Anyone would gush if Niall gave them attention. But it’s you that Harry wants.”

Louis seems to mull this over. “What do you think I should do?”

***

Louis proposes to Harry during the quidditch match. Louis bribes the Ravenclaw captain, a.k.a Zayn, with several free coupons for Weasley Wizard Wheezes to lose the match. The moment Louis catches the snitch, the bleachers erupt in a roar, and Louis fists his pump in the air. The remaining players swoop up with red banners but when it unfurls (to everyone’s surprise but Liam), it has ‘Harry, Will you come to the Spring Ball with me’ written on it.

Louis flies down to where Harry’s standing next to Liam in shock. All adjacent eyes turn on them. Louis is just about to begin an evocative speech that Louis had Zayn write for him (really, it was Liam’s idea. He just needed an excuse to go talk to Zayn) , when the Coach Marcus flies in shooing away the banners and air-dragging Louis away. But not before Louis can chance a wink at Harry.

***

Liam is returning from the library later in the day, after having spent hours writing down that Potions assignment, when he hears noises from the broom closet.

“No, not there-,” a voice which sounds suspiciously like Harry floats out. “ That’s going to leave a mark.”

“That’s what I’m aiming for.”

Liam puts his hands over his years and runs down the hallway, his mind filling up with visions of Harry and Louis being couple-y and cuddling and smooching while hanging out. Liam sighs, his life sucks.


End file.
